This was a riveting read about a mysterious house fire that sets off a chain of events that started decades ago. Trust me when I say that the twists in this book are amazing! I did not want to put this one down until I finished it, and it left me wanting more. The plot was fast-paced and thorough, with the author successfully switching between past and present through the eyes of two sisters (the main characters). I also really appreciated that there was no cheesy romance sub-plot like so many books have thrown in. The Secrets of Us makes me want to go check out Lucinda Berry's other writing!

Foster sisters Krystal and Nichole have an unbreakable bond forged from a secret they've kept for 20 years. A tragedy starts to dredge up the sisters' past and who will find out the truth?

I couldn't put it down for the first few chapters, and started to get antsy towards the middle. The last 25% of the book was a roller coaster, and a lot happens quickly towards the end.

The psyche elements of the book were well written, and by someone with knowledge in the subject. I later learned the author has a psychological background. Expertly done.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this twisted thriller.

Nichole and Krystal are 2 foster sisters that are very close. Krystal, now a lawyer gets a call that Nichole set fire to her house and said her husband Aiden tried to kill her, even though Krystal swears she was happily married? What really happened?

Story alternates into the girls past that will answer your questions. Really enjoyed the twist. Highly recommend

This was a unique and interesting character study of two foster sisters with a dark past that is slowly revealed by alternate narrators throughout the book. The sisters, Krystal and Nichole, are now adults, and one of them stands accused of a terrible crime, and appears to be too hot of her mind. Juvenile records are sealed, so perhaps no one will ever know about the other terrible incidents in the girls’ past….

I would not say this is one of those fast-paced, read-in-three-hours domestic thrillers. Rather, this is a character-driven story. If you like the characters, which I did very much, you’ll be interested in the story, which has a lot to do with mental illness and goats of the past. I myself like a “whydunit” just as much or more as a “whodunit,” and this book has aspects of both.

Lucinda Berry is a writer I enjoy. She creates multidimensional characters and her books tend more towards the drama than the twist-a-minute thriller, but she delivers a great final twist here. Also, she’s such a great writer that she kept me engaged in the interesting minds of both the female characters, and I was intrigued to read about them both as adults and as children.

Four plus stars for this engaging read. Many thanks to Thomas and Mercer, the author, and NetGalley for the ARC of this interesting character-driven tale.

This was described as "dangerously addictive" and had a cover that was dangerously appealing.
I completely agree that it was "dangerously addictive", compulsively readable and hard to put down.

This was a quick read, in that I didn't want to set it down and HAD to find out what would happen next. Pick this up for an addictive and gripping summer, creepy, read.

Solid read from Lucinda Berry once again. The Secrets of Us is well written with interesting characters and a storyline that keeps you guessing.

I tried my best to finish this book but it just couldn't hold my attention. It just dragged along and I had to put it down.

I like all berries. Blueberry, strawberry, Flynn Berry. It stood to reason this one would be tasty too and sure enough…it actually was. Not mind blowingly, amazingly, this berry above all berries so, but pretty good all the same.
The author used her background as a psychologist to craft an intriguing, dark, very dark, psychological thriller about two closer than blood sisters whose past reaches out and grabs them into a stranglehold years later.
Krystal and Nichole as their names so amply scream, came up from a white trash past and went through foster care together, inseparable, to emerge as well to do, well adjusted adults. Or so it was to all outward appearances, until Nichole went seemingly out of nowhere wildly and dangerously insane, burned down her place with her beloved Aiden in it and danced on the ashes.
Now Aiden is charred and bewildered, Nichole is in a straitjacket heavily sedated and Krystal, the sane, calm, reasonable Krystal, is left to figure out what the pluck is going on.
In a parallel narrative done by Nichole, the readers are taken back to the girls’ last years in foster care, a Cinderella like situation with a mean spirited strict woman who essentially uses them as farm labor and her equally mean spirited daughter. Tragedy occurs and the girls do their best to put it behind. But the thing with psyches (as the author has such a profound professional understanding of) is that they are wildly ununiform, especially when it comes to trauma processing, and what works for one person may kill another.
The very thing Krystal and Nichole find out all those years later, in the present day narrative.
Not quite Crime and Punishment, but a very credible take on the crippling effects of guilty conscience in this dynamic suspense thriller. Fans of dark psychological fiction ought to be pleased. And, of course, entertained. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Krystal & Nichole are foster sisters bonded together through traumatic upbringings & events. Years later we find Nicole is a happily married school teacher and Krystal is a successful attorney. A shocking phone call to Krystal reveals that Nicole has set fire to her house and trapped her husband upstairs, then proceeds to dance on the lawn soaked in gasoline. She's taken to the psychiatric ward, where Krystal is baffled by her demeanor and mental state & sets out to unravel the mystery of why Nichole would do this.
Is the husband all that he seems to be and what exactly triggered Nicholes psychotic break? The past comes back to haunt them while the mystery unravels.

This story is told in a Then & Now format with Krystal narrating the "now" and Nicole narrating the "then". It started off strong and I was instantly pulled in. Not long after though, the characters and story fell flat, while the plot suffered a few mishaps. I was also intrigued by what in their past was so terrible that Krystal kept mentioning she was glad their records were sealed. Unfortunately the big reveal wasn't a bombshell and wasn't all that shocking.

I did think the reason for Nicholes psychotic break was a little interesting, something I was definitely not expecting.

I would recommend this book if you're just looking for a quick read mystery book, but not if you're looking for something new and fresh.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I wanted to know if Nichole was really crazy and tried to kill her husband or if something bigger was going on and was intrigued by this synopsis but something about the book just didn't grab me. It was well written and interesting and I may just not have been in the mood for this type of book while reading it and do recommend it for anyone who enjoys mysteries.

Krystal and Nichole grew up together in the same foster home and now they're as close as sister can be. So when Nichole's husband is nearly killed in a house fire the authorities claim Nichole set, Krystal jumps into action to clear her sister's name and determine what actually happened that night. Nichole claims that her husband Aiden isn't her husband at all, that he's been replaced by an imposter that is dangerous. What has happened to Nichole and how can Krystal help her without revealing all the secrets of their past?

This is one of those books where it quickly becomes obvious that you can't trust anyone. Krystal seems like the good guy, but she's so desparate to protect Nichole and their past that she clearly isn't being upfront. Aiden has a lot of lies to try and keep straight that his version of events is quiestionable. This is a twisty tale that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.

The Secrets of Us is a psychological thriller of two young girls that grow up in a foster home in which they suffer abuse and neglect. These girls will form a bond to survive in spite of everything that they have gone through. Nothing in in their childhood has been easy but an event from their past will be the catalyst for the future and the secret they try to keep into adulthood.

Attorney Krystal receives word that Nichole, her "sister", is in a psych hospital after trying kill her husband and burn down their house. The story is told from Nichole and Krystal's point of views which will flip from the past to the future and back again in order to explain what happened. Their will be many twists and turns until the end is revealed. However another chapter was needed to clear up lingering questions in my mind. But maybe that was the point to leave you wondering.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

SUMMARY:
This is my first book by Lucinda Berry (so many great authors, so little time!). In this one, foster sisters Nichole and Krystal have always been there for each without question. So when Krystal receives a call that Nichole has been admitted to a psychiatric facility after attempting to burn her own house down, Krystal comes running, determined to solve everything. What happened to cause Nichole to behave in such a manner? Did she really try to kill her husband? Can Krystal find the answers in time to save her?

PROS and CONS:
I liked the bond between Nichole and Krystal, and the hospital scenes certainly seemed to ring true (at least for me.) I liked the change in perspective from present day to the past - adding to the suspense of what might have happened to these young women. BUT...I did find it to be a little slow, like really slow. I enjoyed reading it, but in the end, it was just ok.

READ IT?
It’s a MAYBE - if you are a long time Berry fan, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. As for me, I’d love to try a different one by her to see if perhaps this one was just an anomaly.

3 Stars

This was my first Lucinda Berry book. Solid 3 star read for me. I wasn’t chomping at the bit to read it and find out what happened but I wasn’t bored while reading it either. I will definitely give her books another try because the writing was good. I just didn’t care that much about this particular story.

Foster sisters Krystal and Nichole have been there for each other through everything since they were placed in the same home when they were 7. They didn’t have a warm and welcoming foster family, so each was all the other had for years. But as adults they now have satisfying lives: Nichole has had a fairy-tale happy marriage for a decade and teaches high school students; Krystal is a family-law attorney.

When Krystal hears Nichole has just been committed to a psychiatric hospital after trying to kill her husband in a fire in their home, she drops everything to find out what’s going on and to protect her. Nichole is in bad shape: She is violent, hurting the hospital workers and herself, and raving that her husband isn’t really her husband. Krystal is worried about Nichole’s mental state and desperately wants her to get the right treatment so she can return to normal, but she’s just as worried about her being sent to prison for an attempted murder that simply makes no sense.

Krystal visits Nichole regularly, advocating for proper care for her and trying to carefully ask questions. She also has to navigate the criminal investigation: questions from the police detective, from the psychiatrist, from the lawyer she procures for her sister. Krystal is mostly forthright, but she has to omit the truth about one difficult event they experienced together as teens. She feels it’s the only way to protect Nichole. But it may be that long-ago tragedy can’t be avoided any longer.

The Secrets of Us is a gripping story that reveals bits of the truth in the present and from the past in alternating points of view. It’s a mystery, it’s a thriller, it’s a story of a broken mind. Lucinda Berry’s professional experience as a clinical psychologist and researcher of childhood trauma shows. I just gobbled up the story in one satisfying sitting.

This was a good twisty turn novel that I did not expect. I love that the author was an actual clinical psychologist, so she brings a whole other element to it in my opinion. Diving into the mind and what it is capable of, and how people's brains can work in such crazy ways... expect the unexpected from people, even those closest to you.

Nichole and Krystal are two foster sisters that came together at a young age, living with their foster mom and her daughter, Veronica. Veronica is not well liked, but one night her mother arranges a sleepover for her at their farm. Tragedy hits when the four girls sneak out to the barn, and it sticks with them for years to come, especially Nichole. When you are forced to lie as a child, to cover up something awful that happened, how far will your mind take you ? Just when you think you've started a new perfect life, with the perfect husband, your old life catches up with you in the most unexpected ways. Leaving you in the psychiatric ward of the hospital with no recollection of what happened.

Loved the split timeline…made it harder to guess what was really happening. A tale of two sisters and the secrets they share…perhaps you really can’t escape your past?

A Solid 4 star read. I'm not sure what it is about Lucinda Berry that I like so much. I think it's her writing style, but I can't necessarily pinpoint what it is specifically that I like so much. It's just very easy flowing and even though the mysteries are usually a slow burn, I'm always intrigued to keep reading even without intense excitement. I usually like her characters and the story just flows very smoothly. I read this one so quickly. I think it was about 2 days!

I've loved both books that I've read by her now, and I'm looking forward to reading her others!

The Secrets of Us by Lucinda Berry will take you on one h*ll of a psychological ride. The twists and turns within the tragic story of two foster children (sisters), Krystal and Nichole, will have you on the edge of your seat. A horrendously tragic night as teenagers haunt both sisters as adults as they try to bury their past. But, unfortunately, all things done in the dark do eventually come to light. When Krystal receives a phone call that her sister has been admitted to a psych ward for attempting to murder her husband and burning down their home, she can't grasp what she's hearing. The only time Krystal has ever seen her sister "lose her mind" and her grasp with reality was when they were 17 years old and living in the home of a psychopath. Krystal will stop at nothing to prove her sister's innocence and to protect her from those who are trying to call her a murderer. A tragic accident that occurred years ago will suddenly be thrust into the light once more, upsetting the sisters' perfectly construed little lives...

This book is a classic "who done it" case. The reader will be trying to piece together fact and fiction throughout the story as they navigate between the present and the past. It eloquently demonstrates on past childhood trauma can affect the future. The twist at the end of the book was not one that I was expecting, however, I did guess Krystal's husband's involvement in her psychosis correctly. Let's just say this... Cheaters never win.

Highly recommendable book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review. I really enjoyed this novel! Berry has a great way of writing that made me feel like I was in the story. I enjoyed switching narrators and times within the novel. I didn’t think it was confusing but it did take me time to figure out Krystal and Nichole separately.

Since the author is actually a psychologist herself, she greatly uses this as an advantage throughout the book. The twists and turns in the novel constantly kept me guessing until the last page. I didn’t see the ending coming at all and left me wanting more!